The Summoning: 08/17/13

The Summoning is by Kelley Armstrong is the first of the Darkest Powers trilogy. I listened to the entire series on audio, but in retrospect, I think I should have just read the books in print.

Chloe Saunders lives with her father. After moving around for most of her childhood — after the death of her mother — it looks like they will be settling down in New York City. She's eager to make new friends, have a normal routine of homework, and eventually go to film school.

Chloe, though nearly sixteen, is small for her age and somewhat under developed. One of the BIG events that sets this whole trilogy off is her getting her first period. That was one detail that made me roll my eyes numerous times early on.

Along with her new found womanhood is the ability to see and talk to ghosts. Except she doesn't want to believe that and the ghosts scare the dickens out of her. Her hysteria gets her put into Lyle House for troubled teens.

Chloe continues to be visited by ghosts. And she begins to suspect that the other teens have powers. Not only that but Chloe and the others are in serious danger.

Although I enjoyed the mystery of Lyle House and following Chloe as she came into her powers, I do have some trouble with the audio. The first is in how Chloe, the protagonist and narrator, is voiced. She's given a high pitched, breathy voice, that makes her sound like she's twelve. I know she's small and mistaken for younger than she is, but a slightly older, less chipper voice would have been more believable.

The other problem is how many times Chloe is brought out of her internal monolog (mostly movie related) by the sound of her own name. It's always said in a very menacing, drawn out way — CLOE-ee. Mind you, much of the time, she is in danger, but not all the characters are out to get her. A little variation in tone would have been nice especially as she does make friends with the other teens.

Four stars

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